The Undead Familiar
by A Certain Random Guy
Summary: Beautiful, clearly rich. Louise summoned a man that was, for as far as she knew, a noble. Or is he? ONE-SHOT. UP FOR ADOPTION


Founder be damned, I'm dead. That's what Louie thought when the smoke of her summoning was blown away by Tabitha's wind magic. On top of the summoning circle stood a man, around thirty years old, by his appearence. His black hair was long, ending about a hand below his neck. Louise noted, with something that couldn't possibly be envy, that his hair was silkier than hers would ever be, as if he spent every day of his life treating it. Along with his beard, that covered the lower part of his face in an graceful style. It gave him a look of wisdom not even the Headmaster's beard - that was as long was Louise was tall - could give.

His eyes, colored in the same tone as the hair, also added to the impact. They were the eyes that she saw on her mother's face, analytical and stern, but at the same time caring. It was quite strange, how a young man could have the look of an experienced woman. All in all, it was just a part of the perfect face of the man. His nose was not too big nor it was too small, the white skin, that on anyone else would give an ill look, just made him more charming.

But it was not the man's appearance that worried her, of course not. The real problem was the way the man stood. Not relaxed, but at the same time not rigid. Not overconfident, but just enough to give the message. Intimidating, but not sufficient that you would want to stay away. She had seen a stance like that before, but only on a few people, a long time ago. When she played together with the Princess Henrietta and her cousin Wales, Prince of Albion. That was the stance of kings and queens, perfected through years of practice, that made them regal - that showed the rest of the people they were superior, but also willing to talk.

His clothes just cemented that perception. The colors were not really special - the man wore mostly red and black, that were a lot cheaper as dyes than blue or purple. But she was barely able to recognize the material that made his set: silk, the special cloth that arrived from time to time, in low quantities, from Rub' al-Khali. And the man had an entire shirt made of it. It didn't end there, though: gold lines drew intricate symbols through the black silk. She couldn't be sure, since she wasn't an earth mage, but she made a wild guess they were gold threads.

Covering the man's back was a red cape that looked more expensive than Louise's entire wardrobe. Just as the figure that wore it, the piece looked perfectly balanced - just light enough, while also being warm. He was directly in front of her so she couldn't see fully, but she was certain she saw a sigil covering the most part of it. That only made her even more afraid.

The looks, the stance, the clothes - up to the damn shoes that were probably made of dragon hide - the man screamed "nobility", if not outright "royalty" - maybe she had summoned a foreign prince from beyond the Sahara - and there was one thing neither of them tolerated: being kidnapped from their homes by someone, specially for something as lowly as being a familiar.

So she just stood there, frozen like an frightened animal, hoping that maybe he would overlook her. She just followed with her eyes as the man raised his hands - up until that moment covered by the cape - up to his chin and looked around, eyes slightly narrowed. And for some stupid reason, Louise couldn't avoid thinking how even his hands looked too well treated, the nails cut short and the palm without any sign of labor work, as if he didn't need to even move the pages of a book by himself.

"I must say, halkegenian, I think you are the most daring mage I have met in a long time" the man finally spoke and that only make her pale even more "To wake this one from his long sleep and bring him to such a place...indeed" at that the man smiled and then whatever fear Louise had was quickly exchanged for pure horror. Not because the man's teeth were incredibly clean - even if they were - but because of the disturbing size of his canines.

A vampire. A bloody vampire. She had asked for a beautiful and powerful familiar after all...god must have a disturbing sense of humor.

She didn't know how the vampire in front of her hadn't turned to ashes yet, though. The sun was high on the sky and there were almost no clouds in this sunny day. From what she heard about vampires, they should die in the sunlight, shouldn't they? Not sparkle like that one novel she once read, not simply be weakened, but bloody vanish into ashes. Most of all, they weren't supposed to simply ignore the sun and make comments about the unlucky noble girl that summoned them.

But she couldn't care more about it because while her mind thought about how wrong the situation was, her teacher was already attacking in hope of protecting his student. In the blink of an eye an intimidating flame snake left the teacher's staff, the burning body shifting through the air in the direction of the monster.

Vampires were also supposed to be weak to fire. It was one of the ways to kill them, right? Burn their bodies and they would be done for good. Well, the flames were damn good for nothing when the vampire simply shook off the powerful - at least triangle - magic that attacked him, making it vanish.

"I have no deal with you, fire mage. The one that brought me here was the little one, not you" the vampire said, taking a step forward. Colbert didn't flinch, instead conjuring an even stronger spell, a massive wall of fire that engulfed the vampire completely. For a moment, Louise thought she was finally safe, but then she noticed there were no screams. It didn't matter if it was a human or a blood sucking monster, people screamed when they were burned. Specially when the flames were hot enough for her to feel like she was burning.

But then, like the snake before, the wall of fire disappeared with a mere handwave from its target. However, said target did not strike back. It simply took another step closer and glared at the bald teacher.

"I will no warn you again" he then shifted his eyes to the Academy's main tower "Tristain's Academy of Magic, I see. You must be a teacher..." a look of realization crossed the vampire's face "A most honorable profession, yes. You need not to worry, professor, for I will not hurt your student" at that, he actually bowed to Colbert

Okay, someone should probably hit her right now, because she must be dreaming. A vampire being as a familiar, said vampire breaking every rule she thought she knew about vampires, shaking off high level magic as if it was nothing and then... showing an incredible respect to a teacher?!

This probably shocked Colbert just as it shocked her, since he made no more resistance when the vampire took the last steps, finally standing about two feet in front of her.

"In all honesty, my kind's reputation is most wicked around this regions, I presume. It have been quite long since I last saw this place." He then focused on her "But no matter. Young mage, you boldness is something we may discuss at a later date. The topic at hand is the reason you summoned one such as me from my home, years away from here, to Tristain. What does one such as you want from me?"

She found out she couldn't speak. It was obvious why: how could she simply tell a vampire that probably outlived everyone she knew, that probably held more fortune than even the Vallière house, to be a familiar? Not only that, the familiar of a failure such as her.

In the end, she stumbled in her words a few dozen times before she finally managed to speak

"I-I s-su-summoned you to b-be my f-familiar" that probably sounded pretty ridiculous, but what could she do. She might as well be dead after saying such a preposterous thing.

He looked at her with an expression that could probably be interpreted as astonishment for was felt like an eternity. Then, just as he did half a dozen times before, he did something completely unexpected - he gave her an honest, if bittersweet, smile.

"Vampires cannot become familiar, young one, for we are already dead." he explained in a matter of fact way. So she was enough of a failure that she summoned an all powerful monster and couldn't even bind him to her "What we can do, are special contracts" at that, all hope that was lost was found again, until being traded by cautiousness. What was he talking about

"I can serve you, young mage, as no other can. But to have me as a servant is to have the world in your hands, your enemies non existent and the dangers taken away. It's not a cheap thing, but if you summoned me here, I might as well offer you..." he paused for a moment, as if remembering something "what's your name, young mage?"

"Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière" it was a miracle she didn't stutter this time

"Very Well. I give you an offer, Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. I shall feed from your blood and your blood only, while you shall wield me against your foes. I can give you power like you would never imagine and the only this you have to do is choose. Now, do you accept this contract?"

* * *

**Seriously, I've been too much time writing this one-shots when I should be writing my ongoing fanfic. Not that I'm not writing it, but the ideas just keep coming up!**

**Well, just as ****_The Faceless Familiar _****this is another idea I had for a possible OC, this time a vampire (as you must have noticed). There was a lot less exposure than my other one-shot, but everyone knows about vampires anyway.**

**Like with my Unbekannt from my other fanfic, I also wanted to put this unnamed character's lines in archaic english but, even when I did a little research, I still wasn't satisfied.**

**I must warn you, I don't plan on keep writing this story, at least not for now. Maybe in a far future.**


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